World economy in dangerous phase, warn IMF, World Bank

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have warned that the global economy is in a dangerous phase and has narrower path of recovery.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick and Monetary Fund (IMF) head Christine Lagarde were addressing 10,000 policy makers at a conference, which aimed to discuss actions to tackle economic challenges at Washington, Sky News reports.

"I still think a double-dip recession for the world's major economies is unlikely.But my confidence in that belief is being eroded daily by the steady drip of difficult economic news," Zoellick said.

He also warned that Europe, Japan and the US must immediately tackle their financial problems before it becomes a world crisis.

"A crisis made in the developed world could become a crisis for developing countries," he said.

His comments in the wake of the global stock markets falling steeply.

Lagarde said the path to economic recovery is narrower than it was to three years ago.

She added that global leaders needed to far-sighted and determined to revive global economic fortunes.

"We are in a recovery, but the recovery is a disappointing one and there are risks that it could falter,” IMF deputy managing director John Lipsky said.

"Another way to look at it is that in 2007, 2008 and 2009... the crisis exploded and the key countries came together... to put in place a set of actions to counteract the crisis, those processes are not complete and we are half way through that process," he added.